PEORIA — Jim Montelongo believes it might be time for the City Council to become more involved in the Peoria public housing debate.

During the council meeting Tuesday night, the 4th District representative suggested his group meet with Peoria Housing Authority officials regarding replacement of Taft Homes. A forum Monday about a proposed public-housing site near Northwoods Mall degenerated into rancor.

“I think the (PHA) board overall has to understand they represent the entire community,” Montelongo said. “Right now, I think their focus is all on PHA residents, trying to deliver services to them. They’re the voice of just those people.”

Montelongo was among about 300 who attended the recent PHA public forum, one in a series. He said he believed Brenda Coates, the CEO of the PHA, lost control of it toward the end, when a number of people left in apparent disgust.

“She got defensive and started making comments back at people,” Montelongo said. “That’s not good.”

A council-PHA gathering likely will be scheduled as soon as both parties can agree on a time and place, according to City Manager Patrick Urich.

“I think dialogue can be helpful in a situation like this,” Urich said. “It’s good to have discussion about what the housing authority’s vision is, how they can share it with the entire City Council and then how they can share that with the community.”

The PHA vision appears to include construction of public housing in the north and northwest portions of the city. Montelongo’s district is host to two proposed sites.

Montelongo said it’s clear to him nearby residents would prefer public housing on a smaller scale — individual houses, duplexes and perhaps four-plexes. He suggested PHA officials aren’t paying attention to neighborhood wishes.

“It shouldn’t be a surprise to Brenda,” Montelongo said. “It tells me the board is not doing their homework.”

“They brought up all legitimate concerns,” he said about the neighborhood residents. “But somehow it gets turned back into race, and it turns into people not wanting to have low-income (residents) and lower property values and crime coming into the neighborhood.

“But the overall message people are saying is that we’re OK with people coming into our neighborhoods. Not 15, 20, 30 units at a time. That’s what the issue is.”

First District Councilwoman Denise Moore, who represents Taft Homes, said some aspects of the meetings have been less than ideal. But she also said Coates and the board have been doing their best to accommodate questions and act professionally.

Page 2 of 2 - “The primary thing the PHA wanted to do is make sure this is a transparent process,” Moore said. “Every single meeting has been transparent.”

“Clearly, the community is not behind what’s been presented right now,” Akeson said. “I think a lot of it has to do with sometimes, when we don’t have a chance to really get to know somebody, you don’t give them the benefit of the doubt.

“Right now, it’s volatile, in my opinion. We need to do everything we can to make it less volatile.”

Nick Vlahos can be reached at 686-3285 or nvlahos@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @VlahosNick.